Kildare families face crippling childcare costs
Campaigners gather at Leinster House to protest rising childcare costs countrywide
FAMILIES in County Kildare continue to face crippling childcare costs of up to €288 per child per week, according to latest available figures from Pobal.
Recent fee increases under the Fee Increase Assessment process have wiped out many of the gains made by the increases to the National Childcare Scheme subsidies in recent budgets.
On May 1, 100 days into the new administration, campaigners from the ‘Together for Public’ alliance, led by the National Women’s Council (NWC), gathered at Leinster House, demanding urgent action on the childcare crisis.
Despite commitments to reduce fees to €200 per month per child and develop a public early years system, little progress has been made. Waiting lists remain long, with over 50,000 children under four without places nationwide.
Backed by over 40 civil society organisations, trade unions, childcare providers, parents and academics who want to see a public system of early childhood education and care in Ireland.
The campaigners call for state-led childcare rollouts, better pay for educators, and a legal right to universal early education.
